March 10
1800s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s *1930 - Babe Ruth signs a two-year contract with the New York Yankees worth $160,000. 1940s 1950s *1951 - FBI director J. Edgar Hoover announces that he has turned down an offer to become commissioner of baseball. The governor of California, Earl Warren, had previously rejected an offer to become baseball’s leader. 1960s *1963 - A little known minor league infielder named Pete Rose plays in his first spring training game. The 22-year-old Rose, who goes 2-for-2 in his debut against the Chicago White Sox, will make the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day roster. As the team’s starting second baseman, Rose will win the National League Rookie of the Year Award. 1970s 1980s *1983 - The Special Veterans Committee announces the election of Walter Alston and George Kell to the Hall of Fame. Alston managed the Dodgers in Brooklyn and Los Angeles to four World Series championships, while always working under one-year contracts. Kell, a standout third baseman primary for the Detroit Tigers, batted over .300 nine times, was a 10-time All-Star, and topped American League third basemen in fielding percentage seven times during a 15-season career. *1982 - Shortstop Travis Jackson and former baseball commissioner Happy Chandler are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. Jackson played 15 years for the New York Giants, batting .291 for his career. Chandler served as baseball’s leader for six years and oversaw the end of MLB color line in 1947, when Jackie Robinson debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers. 1990s *1992 - The Pittsburgh Pirates trade pitcher Neal Heaton to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for veteran outfielder Kirk Gibson. *1993 - Sherry Davis becomes the first woman major league public address announcer when she is hired by the San Francisco Giants to work at Candlestick Park. *1995 - Michael Jordan announces that he is leaving the Chicago White Sox organization and will return to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association. Jordan had struggled in his one season of minor league baseball. 2000s *2004 - When asked by Senator John McCain to renegotiate the MLB contract in regard to the use of controlled substances, Donald Fehr refuses to comply. Although the union boss condemns the use of steroids, he believes the players oppose random drug testing as a violation of privacy, an argument countered by the Arizona Republican as unacceptable and promised congressional action if the status quo. *2005 - Singling off pitcher Brad Thompson in a St. Louis Cardinals intersquad game, former pitching prospect Rick Ankiel goes 1-for-2 in his debut as a position player. Historic wildness and injuries ended the 25-year old once very promising career. *2006 - Four games were played today in the inaugural World Baseball Classic: **'Pool B' ***At Scottsdale Stadium, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Roger Clemens led the United States in a 17–0 rout of South Africa to advance to the second round of the WBC. Griffey went 4-for-4 with two home runs and seven RBI in a game shortened to five innings because of the tournament’s mercy rule. Clemens allowed one hit in 4 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking none with 58 pitches, seven shy of the limit allowed in the first round. Derrek Lee drove in four runs with his second homer of the Classic and a double. The U.S. squad finished in a three-way tie with Mexico and Canada at 2-1, with Mexico finishing first and the Americans second based on the tiebreaker, which is runs allowed in games involving the three tied teams. The United States opens the second round against Japan on March 12 at Angel Stadium, and Mexico plays South Korea in the second game there. **'Pool C' ***Shairon Martis pitched the first no-hitter in World Baseball Classic history, leading the Netherlands over Panama,10–0, at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. The was stopped after seven innings because of the tournament's mercy rule. Martis ended the game with his 65th pitch — the limit for starting pitchers in the first round — when César Quintero hit into a double-play grounder. Martis walked one —Olmedo Sáenz with two outs in the first inning — and struck out none. The only other runner he allowed was Adolfo Rivera, who reached on fielding error by third baseman Ivanon Coffie leading off the seventh. Martis, a right-hander who turns 19 on March 30, signed with the San Francisco Giants as a free agent in 2004. He was 2-1 with a 1.85 ERA in five starts and six relief appearances in 2005 with the Giants' Arizona Rookie League team. ***At Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Puerto Rico routed Cuba, 12–2, in a game that was strictly for pride, with both teams having secured spots in the second round. Bernie Williams, named the best player in Pool C, hit a two-run home run in the second inning, Carlos Beltrán belted a towering three-run homer in the third, and Alex Cintrón added a two-runs shot in the fourth. Cuba walked eight hitters, allowed 10 hits and let the game wrap up early. The mercy rule went into effect and play was called after seven innings. It's just the second time Cuba has lost a game by the mercy rule. The other was against Taiwan in 1983. **'Pool D' ***At Cracker Jack Stadium, rookie pitcher Francisco Liriano led the Dominican Republic to a 6-4 victory over Australia to finish undefeated in the first round. The Dominicans will open the second round against Puerto Rico at Hiram Bithorn Stadium and Cuba plays Venezuela in the other game there. Births *1906 - Art Herring, pitcher (d. 1995) *1921 - James Atkins, pitcher *1934 - Ken Mackenzie, pitcher *1944 - Johnny Briggs, outfielder *1948 - Wayne Twitchell, All-Star pitcher *1958 - Steve Howe, All-Star pitcher (d. 2006) *1963 - John Cangelosi, outfielder *1966 - Mike Timlin, pitcher *1972 - Rob Stanifer, pitcher *1977 - Ben Davis, catcher *1977 - Tike Redman, outfielder *1983 - Donnie Murphy, infielder Deaths *1918 - Jim McCormick, player and manager (b. 1856) *1957 - Erskine Mayer, pitcher (b. 1889) *1985 - Bob Nieman, outfielder (b. 1927)